Hopes gone for weight lift
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BRITAIN is definitely not going to accept 40 or 44 tonne vehicles in the foreseeable future — and that means for at least five years. Reports that Transport Minister William Rodgers is on the verge of accepting a formula that would lead to a compromise with other EEC members over weights have been strenuously denied by the Department of Transport this week.
The formula that was agreed at meetings in Brussels designed to iron out the problem would have created a "damage factor" for each type of vehicle and it was hoped that this would end British objections to the heavyweights.
But Whitehall sources said this week that until other issues including tachographs and the future of drivers' hours were cleared up, there was no possibility of an early increase in maximum weights.
And it is also thought that before any increase is passed the Government — and that could mean any Government — will bring the question of lorry routes back into the The system that was supposed to placate Britain attributed a certain amount of road damage to each axle configuration and it is thought that road taxes would have been adjusted to take account of the factor.
The system would have meant that a two-axle rigid of 16 tons gross weight would have a damage factor of 80 while a six-axle articulated vehicle with a gross weight of only 24 tons would have a factor of 55.
Originally it was reported that Britain was prepared to accept the scheme and introduce a five-axle artic of 40 tonnes but all hope of this has now gone.
One source commented: "Irrespective of the number of axles, Britain has special problems and the Minister has said that until he is certain in his own mind that these problems have been overcome there is going to be no action.
"Right now we have the status quo on weights and that is the way it is going to stay," he said.
Among those questions that still have to be sorted is the future of the environmental lobby. It is thought that with the lobby as strong as it now seems, it is unlikely that Britain will move towards heavier vehicles with an election date still uncertain.